Thursday, January 04, 2007

Four Years Late, Kline Criticizes GOP Tactics

Today Democrats formally took control of Congress, and immediately began working to keep their campaign promises by passing the 11 bills Democrats promised to pass during their first 100 hours in power.

Republicans are grumpy about this.

However, almost all of the bills enjoy the overwhelming support of the American people. Some people might look at this and praise these as "bipartisan" bills. However, the Star Tribune (January 3, 2007) has decided that the Democrats' effort to pass this legislation quickly violates the spirit of bipartisanship --- because Democrats are adopting Republican tactics to insure the bills get passed.

They now say they need to sideline the Republicans, much as they were set aside, to ensure their goal of passing half a dozen top-priority bills within the first 100 hours of legislative business. They'll move the bills straight to the House floor without putting them through committee review, where Republicans could challenge them, and without permitting Republicans to offer amendments or alternatives on the floor.

Minnesota Rep. John Kline joined fellow Republicans at a news conference Wednesday to complain. Kline said he was disappointed to learn of Pelosi's plans for the first 100 hours.

"That certainly implies we won't see business done in a new way," he said.

As usual, Kline is putting partisanship over principle in expressing his mock "disappointment" that the Democrats are fulfilling their promise to pass popular legislation. But I must applaud Kline's honesty in acknowledging that freezing out the minority is an old Republican tactic.

Of course, Kline's professed disappointment rings remarkably hollow when one considers how he abjectly failed to lift a finger to prevent the Republican leadership from using these same tactics, and worse, to ram through the Medicare Part D legislation. And Kline himself was complicit in more Republican subterfuge in putting an end to all meaningful oversight of reconstruction activities in Iraq just weeks before the November election.